HOUSTON, April 20 -- A large percentage of influenza deaths are the result of disease-triggered acute myocardial infarctions, researchers here reported on the basis of autopsy-proven data.
In a week during a flu epidemic, the chances of dying of a heart attack increased by 30% and of dying of chronic ischemic heart disease by 10%, reported Mohammad Madjid, M.D., of the University of Texas here, and colleagues, online in the European Heart Journal.
Influenza causes up to an estimated 92,000 U.S. deaths a year as a result of myocardial infarction alone, they reported on the basis of their clinical observations and analyses of published trials.
Many of these deaths could be prevented if every high-risk patient had an annual flu shot. Dr. Madjid and colleagues wrote.
Working with Russian colleagues at the St. Petersburg Medical Academy, the researchers studied the impact of influenza on coronary deaths (acute myocardial infarction and chronic ischemic heart disease) in autopsies conducted from 1993 to 2000 in St. Petersburg.
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